A short interview with Camila Cáceres

Colombian waters harbour a rich community of sharks and rays (elasmobranchs). Camila will survey artisanal fishers to learn more about the elasmobranch and human communities that survive along Colombia’s coast.

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Camila spent weeks with communities in Colombia's Rosario and San Bernardo Corals National Park, interviewing artisanal fishers. She met this fisherman at Barú, one of her field sites. Like many of the men Camila spoke to, he held a baby on his lap during the interview. He said that he hoped his grandchild would not become a fisher because it is becoming harder and harder to make a living from the sea. Photo by Julián Andrés Rodríguez Agudelo

How would you describe the people of Colombia’s Rosario and San Bernardo Corals National Natural Park?

The people of Rosario and San Bernardo Corals are very cheerful. Throughout the day, whether they are working or relaxing, whether music is playing or not, they are always singing, dancing and laughing. One of the best things about spending the whole day with them is that they are always upbeat and joyful, which makes the long hours of work pass quickly. The people of the islands are also very united and there is a strong sense of community; family always comes first. They enjoy spending time with their loved ones and their neighbours, and since the towns are so small and close-knit, they all rely on each other.

What are the islands themselves like?

The islands are quite small. The largest one measures only two square kilometres (0.77 square miles), so there are no roads or cars on the islands; all transportation is on foot or in a skiff. There are few buildings on the islands besides the locals’ houses and a few hotels, and tropical plants and trees cover the rest of the area. The marine environment is quite interesting. Some areas have nice corals and plenty of fish, while others have been completed destroyed and are no more than a mat of bleached coral covering the sea floor, with almost no fish. I think this is because some islands rely mostly on tourism and others rely more on their artisanal fisheries for their livelihoods.

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Camila spent weeks with communities in Colombia's Rosario and San Bernardo Corals National Park, interviewing artisanal fishers. She met this fisherman at Barú, one of her field sites. Like many of the men Camila spoke to, he held a baby on his lap during the interview. He said that he hoped his grandchild would not become a fisher because it is becoming harder and harder to make a living from the sea. Photo by Julián Andrés Rodríguez Agudelo

Photo by Julián Andrés Rodríguez Agudelo

What is the first thing you say when interviewing people about local fisheries?

Sometimes fishers are a bit suspicious, even confused, when a young female ‘from the city’ (not a native islander) wanders around asking questions, so the first thing I tell them is that I am student who wants to learn from them (not about them). I tell them that since I am not able to stay on the island year-round, I want to learn from the people who know the reefs best, who spend many hours a day, day after day, working for their entire lives on the reefs – I want to learn from them. There’s no question that I, as an outsider and a sporadic visitor, could ever know as much as the fishers who have grown up along those reefs. I think that recognising this fact really helps the fishers to open up.

How do you spend your time at the islands when you are not working?

While conducting my fisher interviews in Colombia, I was simultaneously deploying BRUVS for Global FinPrint, so for two months straight I did not take a day off. If we had bad weather days, which we had a lot of due to Hurricane Matthew, all the fishers would stay on the island and I would interview them. If the weather and visibility were good, I was out on a boat setting up cameras. Also, since we had limited to no electricity, we could not watch television or read a book when we returned from our day in the field, so we were asleep by nightfall and awake at sunrise.

Do you know any local customs or beliefs that illustrate people’s relationship with their environment?

Not really… I mean, a lot of the fishermen believe that ray meat is an aphrodisiac. They all told me that if I gave my husband ray for dinner he would not leave me alone all night. It seems that sharing a meal of ray is considered very romantic and erotic, an important part of any night with a significant other. Besides that, I didn’t learn any other local customs.